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Gee Fabyion, Setting up is a pretty broad question. ... .......... rigging the deck ? Fitting out the tender ? the galley ? Spare parts ? Household ? What area of the world and intended purpose ? Light displacement racer cruiser ? Pot Belly Charter boat ? Small yachts are a great challenge. Space is limited. Typically small yachts are very active and are cherished by involved owners. What type of owner? Hands on ? What type of guests ? Always best to fit out for the task at hand. Space is very precious....sailing yachts are sensitive to weight and its distribution..... " junk in the trunk " is not tolerated when sailing.

Open Excel. Write a list of all the systems and areas you need to cover - speak to the yard as they will often have their own category system for this and a list of all the equipment they are fitting. If you start using their system from the start then all your paperwork, labels, coding etc will match theirs making it all a lot easier down the track! From here then start a new column looking a little deeper at spares and inventory per area/ piece of equipment. Most equipment (eg generator, winch) manufacturer will have a recommended spares list. Ask for this from them and explain your cruising/ racing plan - if you are off to the Pacific you may need more than day sailing from Monaco. From here you will end up with a list of spares then you can start making orders and track it all on the same excel sheet. Basically break it down, write it down logically, track it and plan where you are going to put it before you order it (also get weight when you get price and lead time).

Very Good Advise from the two above. Much of what was said above needed to be done while writing the Spec's for the boat. If the boat is in the early stages of construction this is a great time to acquire spares as they can be spect'ed out when ordering the equipment. Try as hard as you can to get commercial grade stuff. Do not cut corners on Fridge/Freezer systems, Gen, batteries. A spares spread sheet program is essential.

Start in the bow and work your way aft through each compartment taking notes.One pass through the boat should get you 90 percent of the way to your inventory. You may benefit from expert (or semi-expert) counsel in the galley and engine spaces.

Hey Faybion..... Good morning... the best solution for such a modern boat would be to re think the conventional design methodology and determine the exact set of systems needed on board such as navigation, entertainment etc and build the yacht around the systems needed. W e have years of experience in such an approach, with expertise in yacht design, software systems, hybrid and conventional motion control solutions. www.marsec-xl.org we can offer advise in various fields

Nest to the required safety gear. A list of the all the pumps and equipment get the owners manuals fill out those registration cards. also get the all the safety registration done. Gpirbs etc. organize all the needed documentation needed for the yacht to travel. spares. Organize all the big components find out how long their warranties are for and what are the exclusions. Doing this will save you a lot of time later when something does not work well or fails to work properly. get the models and s/n written down. the domestic stuff will not take as much time depending the taste of the owners.

These days, wouldn't the naval architect and/or the builder already have a large portion of this information computerized (including make, model, serial numbers, warranties, etc.) and provided to the owner's rep on flash drive, DVD or even the yacht's central server if management software is part of the build spec?

Sure Rod...if its a first class shipyard they have vast experience commissioning yachts. They also derive a profit stream from commissioning. Many times you are asked simply to check off items on a list...its a challenge...huge amount of gear needed. Its possible to save the owner considerable money and avoid " Junk in the Trunk" sydrome by carefully, modestly, selecting gear . Shipyards will always recommend the best and with all ocean capability. Many owners don't need all ocean spec., they need gear to fit their cruise. If Faybion's schedule allows its good to commission a new yacht twice. At the shipyard give it your best shot...then after the season or cruise is over and the new yacht returns for the inevitable warranty work...commission again to fill in the holes or jettison gear that didn't live up to expectation.